Tainan is a city of 1.9 million people in the middle of a rich farming area. It is the oldest city on the island and was the capital for more than 200 years, until the Qing Government chose Taipei instead, in 1887.

It is on a north-south expressway, on the main railway line between Taipei and Kaohsiung and has a small airport. “The Japanese come to see the many buildings of their era, which includes two shrines in the countryside. One was for a Japanese pilot who steered his Plane, that almost crashed into a village, into a field instead. The other is dedicated to a Japanese policeman who served there. 

Tainan historical buildings are not all Japanese. In the coastal Anping district is the two-story Old Tait & Co merchant house, built by a British company. Painted white, in the Western colonial style, the building has a corridor around the front, back and sides. The city has more Confucian and Buddhist temples than anywhere else on the island and there are many churches, Protestant and Catholic, because it was once an evangelization center.

The shrine for Sugiura Shigemune, a young Japanese fighter pilot whose courageous act during a fierce air battle led to his recognition as the deity Feihu Jiangjun, or General Flying Tiger.Tainan Confucius Temple

–First Confucian temple in Taiwan

-Built by Zheng Jing, whose father, Zheng Chenggong was a pirate leader in the Ming dynasty. He was instrumental in establishing Chinese control of Taiwan.

-Has undergone more then 30 renovations. Current look is from 1917 renovations done in Japanese era.

-Has banyan trees, courtyards, two ceremonial gates called Li Gate and the Yi Path

The temple was established in the early years of the Ming settlement. It was important as Confucian temples serve as the heart and soul of the community. This temple laid the foundation for Tainan to be more than just an outpost.